Construction Workers Shatter Tough-Guy Image: See How They Made Young Patients Smile

Construction workers should be tough guys with bad attitudes, right? Not so fast.

Construction workers should be tough guys with bad attitudes, right? A group of iron workers in Long Island, New York broke that stereotype when they went out of their way to bring smiles to the faces of children at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.

This group of workers, employed by the LiRo Group in Long Island, was constructing a new children’s facility for Stony Brook Hospital, which can be seen in the Facebook post below:

The final beam awaits placement on the new Children’s Hospital at today’s topping off ceremony. Photo credit: Island Swann Studios

Posted by Stony Brook Children’s on Friday, July 24, 2015

According to Today News, one of the workers decided to write a super-sized message to his child, who was a patient there at the time. The words, carefully spray painted on a steel beam high above the city streets, read “Get well soon Jesse” and was signed by five construction workers.

Jesse acknowledged the sentiment with a message of her own: She put up a large poster board thank-you note in a hospital window across from the beam. The iron workers did not stop there. On another beam, the message to all of the children at Stony Brook read “Hope you all get better soon.” The messages were left just days before the “topping off” ceremony for the new facility. However, the words of encouragement should remain visible to the children in the old building until late August 2015, according to the Huffington Post.

“…the words of encouragement should remain visible to the children in the old building until late August 2015.”

Dr. Margaret McGovern, Chief of Pediatrics at Stony Brook, said the act had a huge impact on the children, instantly boosting moods and brightening faces. The project manager at the LiRo Group was not aware of the workers’ plan to leave the messages but was also pleased with the kindness of his subordinates. A simple kind act can significantly affect another person’s life whether it fulfills a basic need or just brightens their day. If you’re ready to make a difference, these random acts of kindness are the perfect place to start.


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